APNewsBreak: Mo. ed. chief advised ballot group
By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press
Updated 4:06 pm, Wednesday, November 20, 2013
- FILE -- In this July 2, 2009 file photo, newly selected Missouri Commissioner of Education Chris Nicastro outlines her goals for the state's primary and secondary education system at a press conference at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City, Mo. Emails released under a Sunshine Law request by the Missouri chapter of the National Education Association and obtained by The Associated Press show that Nicastro provided advice to a group backing a ballot initiative that would end tenure protections for teachers. Photo: Sarah Flagg, AP
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri's education commissioner provided advice to a group crafting a ballot proposal that would end tenure protections for public school teachers and instead make their employment contingent on student achievement.
State email records show commissioner Chris Nicastro met with an advocate of the ballot initiative more than a year ago, suggested specific wording and reviewed a final draft of the initiative before it was filed this March with the secretary of state's office.
Nicastro's involvement is detailed in emails released by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in response to a Sunshine Law request filed by the Missouri chapter of the National Education Association. The teachers' union, which opposed the initiative, provided the emails to The Associated Press.
The group said Nicastro's involvement went beyond what was appropriate for a nonpartisan appointee of the State Board of Education.
Nicastro said Wednesday that she has no position on the initiative but provided the group